Weddings weddings weddings.
The long-suffering bloke's sister is getting married today, so we're all off for a bit of a party (Plink is not coming with me. Too many opportunities for utter mischief) and as usual, I've decided that whatever I'm wearing is going to be made by me.
Typically, I'd found the perfect fabric long before decided which pattern to use. It was a bit of a toss-up between some vintage Vogue...
...or a patten I'd used once before...
...or this rather off-the-wall number (thank goodness I didn't go for this, would not have been flattering)...
Then huzzah and hoorah, Sewaholic released their Cambie dress pattern. Perfect combination of party but not prissy and perfect for the fabric I had in mind with its relatively simple lines.
Exceptionally glad I took the time to make a muslin for this, the first fitting highlighted a lot of issues. Hardly surprising when you're putting an hourglass shape into a dress designed with pears in mind, especially when the hourglass is only 5ft tall and overly-blessed with bazingas and booty. This means I've got a narrow back in comparison to my front, a huge swayback, a relatively skinny waist and chunktastic thighs (hoorah for full skirts!).
So. After starting with a size 10 all over for the first muslin, I dropped bust dart point by about an inch, converted to square neckline, chopped 1 1/2 inches off of the height at the shoulders to stop back neckline gaping wider than the grand canyon, and widened waist darts for a bit of extra nip and tuck. 2nd fit muslin (now the lining) indicated I needed to take 1/2" off of the bodice length and drop the neckline by about 1/2 an inch, then do a bit more of a swayback adjustment. *Phew*.
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| Yay, BIRDIES! |
The skirt is made of neither of the pattern options; it's basically two 'option B' front pieces (the back cut in two for the CB seam) gathered. I've got quite enough 'natural' volume at the back already without adding more). Zipper sloppily inserted by machine as I was using a borrowed machine with just a straight foot, then hand sewn to shell and lining fabrics.
The fabrics are probably a little too heavy for the gathered skirt for this to be worn as a day dress. For special occasions where a bit of poofyness isn't a problem, it looks fine. Have to say that the colours of this print are spectacular and the fabric stitches up beautifully and presses well.
Let's hope it gets through the day without falling to pieces! Needle and thread locked and loaded in the handbag just in case... more photos to follow, naturally.
UPDATE!
The dress survived, as did I. Unfortunately there are but two photos of me wearing it, and both of 'em are blurred to oblivion. Oh well, I'm certain some more will surface. Here's me looking less than glam following a tussle with my sort-of-nephew to encourage him to stand still.
